Improvement in toy-toads



JAM ES FALL-0W8.

Improvement in Toy Toads;

Patented Dec. 5, 1871.

WITNESSES:

IYNVENTOR JAMES FALLOWVS, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

IMPROVEMENT lN TOV-TOADS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 121,502, dated December 5, 1871.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JAMES FALLOWS, of the city of Philadelphia, in the State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain Improvements in the Toy-Toad, of which the following is a specification: Y

The first part of my invention relates to the construction and arrangement in the open mouth of the toad of a hooked spring-tongue, in such a manner that when the toad advances and takes in its vmouth the penny, which is placed in the holder for the purpose, the hook on the tongue catches behind the further edge of the penny, draws it out of the holder, and in retreating the toad drops it into its den through an opening in the under side of its body. The second part of myinvention relates to the construction of the holder for the penny out of a thin plate of sheet metal cut and formed up so as to present two guides, with stops and a slot between, the same being fixed and supported upon uprights rigidly attached to the upper side of the case, in such a manner that as the toad advances the hook on the spring-tongue will be permitted to slide within the slot upon the surface of the penny, catch behind the further edge of the latter, and as the toad retreats, draw it out of the said holder. The third part of my invention relates to the combination, with a case having a circular arched and slotted top, a penny-holder, and an attached den with a sliding cover, of a toad on the upper end of a weighted swinging bar, in such a manner that as the bar swings upon its supports the toad will be moved thereby backward and forward concentrically over the arched surface of the slotted top of the ease, and the penny, taken by the toad from the holder at one end of the slotted arch, will be dropped by it into the den at the other end of the same.

Figure 1 is a vertical longitudinal section of the case, the closed den, and the penny-holder, with a full side view of the weighted pendulous bar and the attached toad, when the latter is within its den. Fig. 2 is a like section of the case, the open den, and the penny-holder, with a full side view of the weighted pendulous bar and the attached toad, when the latter is in the act of withdrawing the penny from the holder. Fig. 3 is a plan view, partly in section, of the penny-holder detached.

A is a sheet-metal case having an arched top,

a, which has a narrow longitudinal slot extending along through its mid-width, from its lower end within the den B to within an inch, more or less, of the penny-holder a, which is soldered fast to supports 3, which also are soldered fast to the arched top a, so as to allow the front portion of the penny-holder to enter the mouth of the toad as the latter advances and seizes the penny which may be placed therein for the purpose. The penny-holder a is a small piece of tin plate having a slot, 4, in its projecting end, and its two outside edges bent downward to keep the edges of the penny from slipping outward laterally, and attached thereto, respectively, two

small bent strips, 5, of tin plate, which serve as rests and stops to support the penny loosely and at the same time to leave an open space, 6, between its inner edge and the inner end of the slot 4. Theden B has a sliding cover, I), for the purpose of confining and liberating the toad, as may be desired. The toad is fixed upon the upper end of a bar, D, which swings on journals in a vertical plane parallel with and between the said sides, and with the part of its upper end, which is just beneath the toad, moving freely in the slot of the arched top a of the said case. A weight, (1, much heavier than the toad O, is fixed on the lower end of the bar D, and swings clear of the inner surfaces of the case A. The arched top a is equidistant from the axis of the bar D, and consequently the toad G will move over that part of the said top which extends from the penny-holder a down into the den B, in accordance with the momentum of the weight when the toad is first released from its den B. The hooked end of the spring-tongue c of the toad slides upon the surface of the penny :v as the latter enters the mouth of the toad, as represented in Fig. 2, and, catching behind the inner edge of the penny draws it out of the holder as the toad retreats, and finally drops it into the open den B, as indicated by the dotted lines in the same figure. WVhen the toad has advanced far enough to seize the penny, the bar D strikes against that end of the slot in a, and thus prevents injury to the tongue and mouth of the toad.

WVhen not in operation the toad is intended to be kept inclosed in the den B by means of the shut sliding cover 11, as represented in Fig. 1, and if a penny be placed in the holder a, and the cover I) of the den be then withdrawn suffipenny into the den 13, as

ciently, the toad will be carried by the gravitation of the weight d along over the arched top a of the case into contact with the penny, as represented by the dotted lines in Fig. 1, and will then be immediately carried back by the return motion of the said weight far enough to drop the before stated, the extent of the oscillations of the weighted pendulous bar D gradually diminishing until the toad comes to rest on the middle of the arched top of the case A.

I claim. as my invention 1. The hooked spring-tongue c in the open mouth of the toad O, the said parts being constructed and arranged to operate in combination with the penny x and the holder a, substantially as and for the purpose hereinbefore described and set forth.

2. The holder at, when constructed and secured upon the outside of the arched upper side of the case A, substantially as and for the purpose hereinbefore described and set forth.

3. The toad O, the swinging-bar D, and weight (2, in combination with the case A, penny-holder a, and den B, the said parts being constructed and arranged to operate substantially as and for the purposes hereinbefore described and set forth.

JAMES FALLOWS.

WVitnesses BENJ. MoRIsoN,

WM. H. MORISON. (143) 

